


Terms of Endearment

by lifeaftermeteor



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Boyfriend, M/M, POV Shiro (Voltron), Romance, Romantic Fluff, Shiro (Voltron)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:08:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23032219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeaftermeteor/pseuds/lifeaftermeteor
Summary: Shiro doesn’t really use terms of endearment. But Keith...Keith does, and Shiro has since discovered that he loses his damn mind when Keith uses one on him.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 22
Kudos: 133
Collections: Intrusive Sheith Thoughts





	Terms of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> Just an itty bitty ficlet that started as a [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/cosmicdustvld/status/1235371927234949120) which...gained a lot of interest. So here you go my lovelies. Enjoy your fluff!

Shiro doesn’t really use terms of endearment. 

His parents never used them. He and Adam never used them either...so Shiro always just assumed such things were reserved for those couples who gave you cavities just from watching them. The ones who were all but conjoined at their hips until separation was nigh impossible.

Even with Keith—who makes Shiro's heart burn with love and desire—he’s still just “Keith,” as he has always been and Shiro is beginning to suspect always will be. Shiro knows full-well that if Keith had a call sign, he probably would have defaulted to using it, much as he prefers to go by ‘Shiro’ rather than ‘Takashi’ nowadays. But in lieu of that, “Keith” is fine for him.

But Keith...Keith uses terms of endearment—which came as a surprise when they were first together—and Shiro has since discovered that he loses his damn mind when Keith uses one on him. Shiro goes from the confident and self-assured leader, Black Paladin, Captain of ATLAS, and senior officer in the Galaxy Garrison and Intergalactic Alliance alike to a blushing, stammering, bashful mess because Keith didn’t call him by his name.

Instead, Keith called him _Sweetheart._

Or _Darlin’,_ with that heavy Southern drawl Keith got from his Pop and has never quite been able to kick. Or _Baby,_ which always brings a near-desperate whine to the back of Shiro’s throat. Or _Starlight,_ a personal favorite and one reserved for particularly heartfelt sentiment.

The words are never tossed haphazardly over a shoulder or bandied about carelessly. They’re not offered dismissively as trifling platitudes. Rather, they’re always delivered with clear intent, Keith’s eyes locked on him to gauge his reaction. And Shiro always reacts. He likes how the words make him feel. 

They make him feel...soft.

Like he’s deserving of gentle caresses, candlelit dinners, and sweet fruit on his tongue. Of soft sheets and warm blankets and lazy afternoons while rain pelts the windows and thunder rumbles outside. Of shooting stars and constellations, whispered confessions and nights spent worshipping expanses of skin with kiss-bruised lips.

Shiro’s not used to feeling soft. He’s too conscious of his rough edges, both inside and out. And there are days where he wonders if that’s all that’s left of him: certainly what the arena didn’t take, the war surely did. But he knows how deeply he yearns for it, yearns to be treated gently and with tender care that tears well in his eyes and he feels no shame for the tracks they leave on his cheeks to be brushed away by calloused fingers. 

So he lets Keith’s endearments wash over him like a balm to the soul and allows himself to be soft.


End file.
